KELVIN LANEIL JAMES v. THE STATE OF NEVADA (2025)

ORDER OF AFFIRMANCE

Kelvin Laneil James appeals from a district court order denying a postconviction petition requesting genetic marker analysis filed on December 10, 2024. Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County; Carli Lynn Kierny, Judge.

In his petition, James requested that a knife and “any other substantial evidence” be tested for fingerprints. NRS 176.0918 authorizes a defendant to file a “postconviction petition requesting a genetic marker analysis of evidence within the possession or custody of the State which may contain genetic marker information ․” A genetic marker analysis is “the analytical testing process of a biological specimen that results in a DNA profile” and does not include other forms of evidence testing, such as fingerprint testing. NRS 176.09118. Because James did not request that a genetic marker analysis be performed on the above evidence, the district court did not err in denying the petition.¹ See NRS 176.0918(3)(c) (stating a petitioner must identify the type of genetic marker analysis requested). Accordingly, we

ORDER the judgment of the district court AFFIRMED.

Bulla, C.J.

Gibbons, J.

Westbrook, J.

FOOTNOTES

1.   To the extent James requested the knife be subjected to a genetic marker analysis, James previously raised this claim in a prior petition, and the denial of that claim was affirmed on appeal. See James v. State, No. 89003-COA, 2025 WL 366071 (Nev. Ct. App. Jan. 31, 2025) (Order of Affirmance). Thus, this claim was barred by the law of the case doctrine. See Hall v. State, 91 Nev. 314, 315, 535 P.2d 797, 798 (1975).